I subscribe to a LOT of enewsletters. The goal? To learn from a wide and diverse group of people and companies.
And yes, topics.
Just because I work with nonprofits doesn’t mean I should avoid content from the for profit world. The opposite! There’s plenty to learn from the business world that I can carry over to the nonprofit sector.
I subscribe to publications that discuss marketing, email, finance, ecommerce, the psychology of buying, tech, copywriting and more.
One of my favorites is All Things CX and Retention by Eli Weiss. He writes about retention and customer experience (CX) in the ecommerce world. It’s one of the best publications I receive weekly- the content is fantastic and Eli’s writing style keeps my attention from start to finish.
Best part? I learn a TON about CX and retention that I can share with clients. Both issues are ones nonprofiteers grapple with and knowing how to provide a seamless donation (customer) experience while retaining donors over the long haul is critical to your organization’s growth.
Back in February, Eli sent an enews which really stayed with me. I’m sharing it now because of the proximity to both year-end campaigns and planning for 2026 growth. Here’s the intro from his enews:
“I want to talk about something that’s been rattling around in my head for a hot minute now.
We, as marketers, constantly make decisions that we would hate as consumers.
We blast out relentless emails and SMS- then complain when brands spam us. We assume customers will buy instantly when in reality, most of our purchases take days, weeks or even months of consideration.
We obsess over immediate conversions while ignoring the fact that most of the things we buy come from brands we’ve seen 10+ times before even thinking about pulling out our credit cards.
It’s a weird paradox. We live as consumers but operate like robots when we’re in marketer mode.
So today, let’s unpack some of the biggest blind spots in marketing and retention- the things brands swear are “best practices” but would drive them insane as actual customers.”
Sound familiar?!
Let’s look at two issues Eli raises and their relevance to giving and retention.
Boost retention
1️⃣ We expect customers to buy immediately- but that’s not how we shop
Think about all the letters, emails, social media posts and more that we send out. Does every campaign have an ROI of 300%? Does every campaign succeed? Does everyone on our list respond to our request to give?
No, no and no.
Sure, there are people who make impulse purchases and they’ll give when they weren’t planning on donating. But think about your own giving to nonprofits- odds are you’re not giving every time there’s an ask.
In fact, it’s a process.
You can throw all the URGENT in email subject lines and emotional tugs in letters to mobilize giving. But again, we have to keep in mind how people make decisions.
Yes, a matching campaign does raise more money from more people (the same way a 20% discount could encourage more people to buy a certain shirt). Some of those people may not have been interested in giving that day but the chance to have their gift doubled or tripled served as a trigger.
But again, it’s not 100% success.
So instead of NOW NOW NOW let’s consider pacing the conversation we’re having with current and potential supporters. Let’s create a path that builds to a point where someone wants to give.
More gratitude. More storytelling. More sharing of impact data (qualitative and quantitative). More creating value for people. More touch points prior to an ask. More relationship building.
At year-end you’ll be trying every which way to encourage people to give. But it’s important to remember: A donation is just the beginning of the road. Now you have to shine in the gratitude and reporting part after the donation.
This is how you boost retention. This is how you provide a positive donor experience. This is how your organization grows and thrives.
As Eli says: “Sometimes, the best growth strategy isn’t “how do I get them to buy today?” It’s “how do I make sure they want to buy from me when the timing is right?”
2️⃣ We ignore customers for months- until we want something from them.
Unfortunately, nonprofits do this all the time.
A person donates, gets a thank you reply and then… 🦗
They don’t hear from the organization until the next time they’re needed. And by then it’s too late- out of sight, out of mind.
The donor has moved on elsewhere. Which is why it’s critical to deal with this pain point:
Ignore people at your own peril.
“They are not one of your donors. You are one of their charities.”
People have a lot of choices when it comes to giving. If you’re not working to build a relationship and the only time people hear from you is money time, they’ll bounce. And your retention goes down.
My question to you: What’s going to be your lead-in to your year-end campaign? You can’t just maintain radio silence and then bombard people with twenty fundraising asks in December.
My second question to you: What will you do post-December to maintain the relationship with those who gave? How will you make them remember the experience of giving as a positive one?
The sector data on retention (and the ridiculously low first time donor retention rate) are pain points many organizations suffer from. It costs them a lot of money, time and effort.
